Farewell
by Risa McDohl
Summary: Suikoden V; After the war Prince Freyjador writes to Lym explaining why he must abdicate his royal title and leave Falena, at least for now. Hopefully she understands. Prince x Lyon implied.


**Title:** Farewell

**Author:** Risa

**Pairing:** Prince/Lyon implied

**Rated:** K+

**Disclaimer:** Suikoden V is Konami's.

_Your Majesty, _

_I hope that this letter finds you in excellent spirits. The Queendom is rightfully yours at last, and I know you will treat this land and her people with the grace, wisdom, and kindness that our mother before us had. I have complete faith in your capabilities, and continue to be in awe of your strength. You have grown so much that I can hardly believe my eyes. _

_I write you this, because as you have no doubt already learned I have chosen to leave this land for now. I write you this, because your tears could very well convince me to stay, which would not be wise at this time. I regret to say that there are many reasons that I must go, for your sake, the sake of Falena, and my own sake._

_It is critical now that no one question your authority. You are Queen of Falena, but I was the one who led the cause that would lead to Sol-Falena's liberation from the Godwin faction. As such, I technically could have taken place as her ruler. Officially we were on opposite sides of the war, though we never betrayed one another, and we know this, but not everyone does. There are still rumors of a possible succession battle, as you are no doubt aware, so my presence would merely be a burden to you. You will have enough on your plate as is. _

_I feel it is necessary for me to remain by Georg's side as well. He has proven himself to be a steadfast ally of mine, rivaled only by Lyon, and you, of course. He has proved his loyalty to Falena and her people a countless number of times, despite what I am about to tell you. _

_Mother took great care to protect you from herself. You may have heard stories, but I have been witness to dozens of her manic bouts. They were truly frightful, completely unlike her. She was slowly going mad under the influence of the Sun Rune, and I cannot express enough relief that the rune would not take you as its new host, because I suspect the same might have happened to you. I can no more bear to think of losing you as I could willingly throw myself in front of a stampede of dragon horses. _

_Forgive me, I did not mean to digress. Georg Prime did, in fact, kill our mother. Father would have done it himself if he could have, for the sake of the country. For our sake. Mother would not have wanted Falena to be destroyed. She certainly would not want to have been inadvertently responsible for our deaths. She had been driven to a point of no return during the Sun Palace siege, and killing her was Georg's only option. He saved her, us, and all of Falena, by doing so. His heart is weighed by a terrible guilt, though, and he believes that he is no longer welcome in this land. I wish to be by his side until his heart has healed from this. I feel that I owe him at least this much._

_That is not all, though. I am leaving for selfish reasons as well. Perhaps you will think me an irresponsible dolt for this, or even an insufferable weakling. These are justified thoughts, and I write you this because you deserve to know all of the reasons why I leave you for now. I have recently terminated Lyon of her position as my body guard, as I now abdicate my own title as Prince. As you can imagine, she took this quite hard at first. She assumed that I was letting her go because she wasn't strong enough to protect me, when in fact the exact opposite is true. Her strength, her convictions, and her loyalty are absolute. She practically died for me twice. I cannot, will not, see her die a third time as my body guard, or as anything if I can help it, because that will be the last time. No rune could bring her back to me then, and I cannot stand the thought._

_You must not misunderstand, Lym. I love you so dearly, and I know our separation has upset you. It upset me as well, and it upsets me now. When my mind and soul are purged of the toll this war has taken on me then I may be capable of returning to this land, better than I ever was, if that is what you wish. For now, though, I must go. I must go, and Lyon will be accompanying me not as my body guard, but as my closest friend, my most trusted ally, and the woman that I love more than the sun shines. _

_Again, through the course of this war I have had Lyon die in my arms not once, but twice, only to be brought back to me by the miracle of rune magic. I realize that it is silly to dread such a thing, for what man bound by his royal title would waste his time lamenting for a body guard that is far too good at her job? That man would be me. _

_The first time was when that wretch Dolph claimed her with his dagger. I was beside myself. I could neither think, nor breathe, because as the life spilled from her body mine was going with it. When the Dawn Rune stabilized that fatal blow, I could think of nothing but how to save her. That became my priority above even Falena herself. That is my weakness. With that I have proved that I not only cannot accept my life as Prince at this time, but that I am not strong enough to. That too would only burden you. _

_The second time Lyon died in my arms it was the Sun Rune that brought her back to me. If nothing else The Sun recognizes and blesses her place in this world, her birthright to live a full life of her own. One where she is not my sword and shield, but her own person. I would sooner die myself than see her life disappear once more. I love her so fiercely that I am on the brink of tears as I write this. My heart is bursting. I have not yet told her everything that I feel for her. Really at this point I would be happy to have her in any capacity, except one that puts her life in danger for my sake. I hope that you don't mind, but I gave her the freedom to choose to either join me, serve you as Queen's Knight, or go off and live a completely different life. Without giving it any thought she chose to accompany Georg and myself. She would have made an excellent Queen's Knight, though. It was always her dream. Perhaps she will fulfill that dream someday when we return, if you would still have her. It is her choice, a choice that I believe she has earned. If you find that I was out of line for giving her that choice without your consent then seek me out and punish me if you wish, but please leave her out of it. That is all that I ask._

_Call me selfish and a fool. Call me weak. Tell me I am no more fit to be Prince than even Euram Barows. Hate me if you wish. I will accept your hatred as well-deserved. At least know this. I would also sooner see myself die than allow anything to happen to you, as well. If I did not trust our comrades in maintaining the well-being of Falena with you, I would stay. If I did not trust Miakis to care for and protect you in my stead, I would stay. If I thought even a hair's width of danger was anywhere in your near future, I would stay. To stay, though, is to assume more power and authority than I deserve. I am the rebel liberator, and I have done my job. I am also your brother, so if you find that you can forgive me for leaving, I would more than welcome you to call upon me should things suddenly take a turn for the worst. I would come rushing down from the north-most tip of the Northern Continent to help you if it came to it. _

_With all of that said, I bid you farewell. I love you, little sister, and I will miss you. Always know that you have a place in my heart, no matter what. _

_Sincerely,_

_Freyjador _

* * *

_Dear Brother, _

_I regret to say that I was in very low spirits when I got your letter. I had to read it and walk away from it at least five times before putting together this response. I am very upset still, but I will accept it. I feel that you have earned the right to choose whatever fate you feel fits you best. It am incredibly hurt that it is not a fate that would have you here with me, where I would most like you. The Queen's Knights have dwindled down to one, that of course being Miakis, so by default she is the acting captain until I can recruit more. A few of your women and men have already applied for the position, though as you know I am no expert in combat, so I must leave it up to Miakis to be a wise judge. It is safe to say that there will always be a spot open for both you and Lyon in the Queen's Knights, should you ever return._

_I do hope you will return some day. The sooner, the better. Though I am upset, I am not upset with you. The amount of things you have done for me, for Falena, is amazing really. I cannot even begin to thank you, brother. Your actions could not have spoken your love and loyalty to me any clearer. Please know that I realize that, OK? You do not need to be so down on yourself. Come on, how _dare_ you compare yourself to that stupid Euram Barows anyway? Not _MY_ brother! Never in a million years. You are my hero. I love you more than anything in this whole world. _

_Let Georg know that I also do not think badly of him. He did what was necessary, and he helped you so much. I was not blind to mother's changes either, you know. I may just be a kid, but I still noticed something was not right. I am also glad that the Sun Rune does not use me as a host. Still, it would have been nice to zap that horrible Gizel away myself, and I would have! He made me so angry. He still makes me angry. An excited man from your army called Egbert found me somehow and suggested that I toss Gizel's body into a cesspit. It was tempting. _

_As far as Lyon is concerned, I think you did the right thing by offering her that choice. I could not find it in my heart to make her stay if she would rather be with you anyway. I saw what that horrible Dolph had done to her. He meant to do that to you, right? Lyon saved you. I knew you would be very sad. How I wanted to be there for you, to see you through it. There is nothing weak or foolish about not wanting your body guard to die. That is natural. You really are much too hard on yourself, brother. As Queen I order you to stop that! _

_Oh, and do tell Lyon that you love her. She should know the whole truth behind you leaving Falena as I do now. There is no need to be shy, silly brother. I think she that would be very happy. May your first marriage be much happier than mine was. _

_Please, never forget about me. I miss you so, so, so much, and I will miss you more every single day. I love you. Please come back soon. _

_Love, _

_Lym _


End file.
